


what letter what factories what warm what home what missing

by sandyk



Category: Superstore (TV)
Genre: AU from s1, Bi Jonah, F/M, also Jonah and Amy both have dates with random people, bi amy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 18:43:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13106253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandyk/pseuds/sandyk
Summary: The AU where Amy gets divorced in s1 and then dates a lot (men and women) and Jonah waits.





	what letter what factories what warm what home what missing

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Small Future by Bronwyn Valentine. not mine, no profit garnered.

"I'm so sorry," Jonah said. "I'm so sorry about you, you're getting a divorce."

Amy shrugged. "You should be, it's your fault. Not really, but a little."

Jonah blinked too many times and stuttered and then said, "How -how?"

"Remember how you spent two thousand dollars on my husband during Color Wars?"

"Yeah, that was only a month ago and he wasn't supposed to tell you. I thought I made that clear when I got him out of here before you saw him," Jonah said. "Which is not the issue. What is the issue?"

"Not like I wouldn't notice he suddenly had a new grill and equipment," Amy said. She was frowning and looking somewhere off to the left in the parking lot. Myrtle and Glenn had just set the store on fire during the Olympics opening ceremony. Jonah had made a clumsy grilling joke as they walked out after seeing the Jonah mannequin burn. And now they were talking and apparently Amy was getting a divorce and it was Jonah's fault.

Amy said, "We had a big argument and he said something about how using money on my stupid college courses was stupid and I couldn't take him calling these courses stupid and then I just, I freaked out. Everything went downhill from there. We went to one marriage counseling session and it was mostly, hey, we should not be married anymore. He's keeping the grill stuff, and the house. My parents were talking about downsizing anyway, so basically they're selling their house and the three of us are getting a place. It's going to be great. So thanks for that."

"I'm really sorry," Jonah said. "I didn't mean to?"

"Of course you didn't, it's not your fault at all, but I like blaming you," Amy said.

"You've been covering well, I had no idea." He really hadn't.

"That's me, putting on a show," Amy said. She looked at him and looked exhausted. "Fuck, tell Glenn I got smoke inhalation or something, I'm going home."

"Got it," Jonah said. "See you later. Sorry again. I was just trying to win for you and then I realized it was your husband so I wanted you not to suffer. Sorry again."

"You keep saying that," Amy said, not quite smiling. "I'll be back tomorrow. Don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Absolutely," Jonah said.

He did not tell anyone, he didn't even hint at it. Everyone found out because Cheyenne ran into Emma when they were both at the library for a summer school class. Cheyenne couldn't keep a secret, at least not one that juicy. And important-ish.

Jonah and Garrett were watching baseball at this taco bar Garrett loved after work. Garrett said, "What's your timeline on moving on Amy?"

"I don't have a timeline," Jonah said. "I mean, if I were going to do anything, I would wait for Amy to give, like, a signal."

"She starts dressing super sexy, you're all over her," Garrett said.

"She's already -- anyway. I think she'll make it clear when she's ready." Jonah ate his taco. "She's been with Adam forever, right?"

"For as long as I've known her," Garrett said. "Which, shit, I started a month before she did. That's some sad history right there."

"You or her?"

"Her, this is my dream job," Garrett said. He said it very sincerely. Jonah thought he was being ironic or possibly telling the honest truth. "She and Adam were totally hot for each other, though, for a long time. I feel like the bloom didn't go off that rose for at least five, six years."

"So five years ago? Seven?"

"I don't know, man, I don't think there was a specific thing," Garrett said. "There was a super hot guy who was flirting with her hard about four years ago. He was a very attractive man. She ate that up. But nothing happened."

That guy sounded like a jerk, Jonah thought. A shitty jerk. He said, "Amy doesn't seem like she would cheat."

"And definitely not with some guy who fell off the wagon and started smoking crack again," Garrett said.

"I guess he got fired, too," Jonah said.

"No, he still worked at Cloud 9 for another year or two, until he got arrested. He set his apartment on fire," Garrett said.

"Makes sense," Jonah said. "How long can you work while smoking crack?"

"Longer than you think," Garrett said. "Definitely longer than you might think since I bet you actually have never known anyone who smoked crack."

"You'd be wrong," Jonah said.

"Who? Your cousin who snorted coke while day-trading does not count. It would be different in the court of law, so it's different in anecdotal data," Garrett said.

"I had this minor issue in college and I needed money so I sold my brother's Camry to my brother's then girlfriend's cousin. Who smoked crack and ripped me off. Pretty savvy guy. He pegged me as a sucker right away," Jonah said.

"Why were you selling your brother's car? Did he know you were doing that?" Garrett seemed genuinely interested.

"He did not," Jonah said. "He was pretty angry at me. And then he told my mom and my dad and they weren't very pleased either."

"Were you smoking crack?"

"No, it was nothing. It was poker. Really nothing," Jonah said.

"Okay, I'm convinced," Garrett said, very sincerely.

Amy didn't start dressing super sexy, whatever that meant. She did start dating. She started dating a lot. She didn't specifically tell Jonah about any of it, but he heard from Cheyenne and, for some reason, Dina. 

Dina was obsessed with comparing the guys Amy dated to guys at the store. Maybe she just seemed obsessed to Jonah because he kept hearing that this one was taller than Jonah, this one was beefier than Jonah, this one had worse hair than Jonah, "but that's clearly not important to Amy."

He went out on dates. They didn't generally go well. He wasn't committing to the experience. He drove for an hour to meet a guy, and it was his only good date in months. Second best sex since he'd gotten to St. Louis. (That reporter had been incredible.) 

Cheyenne just shared the stories Amy told her. Amy was trying out a few dating apps. She liked nice guys but not ones with kids. She was dating Latinos but she'd gone out with a Korean guy and a Persian guy. Mateo said, "Smart. White guys are the worst."

Then they went on strike. After the first day, Amy and Jonah drove around getting things done. After they finally gave up on the second day, he sat with her at an outside bar. She said, "Back to work tomorrow, I guess."

"It'll be okay," Jonah said. "So, did you see Garrett went out with that transphobic girl?"

"She was super hot," Amy said, shrugging. "I'd probably bang her once and then, you know, tell her she was wrong morally."

"She doesn't seem like the type to be bi," Jonah said. "Unlike you, apparently. Or are you just --"

"No, I was sort of coming out to you. The only time I ever cheated on Adam was in high school, before we got married," Amy said. "A cheerleader." She blushed. "I haven't told Cheyenne or anyone at work, okay?"

"I won't tell. I'm, uh, I'm bisexual, too." 

"Are you just saying that?" She smiled. 

"Nope," Jonah said. "I've had sex with, like, five guys. Made out with a few more. Mostly women though, for me. I mean, I'm about 70-30."

"Oh," Amy said. "I'm more like 80-20. I think. It's like I'm 19 again, figuring out what I want and who I want it with. I don't want to settle down right now. I want meet people and be casual. Which. Um."

Jonah covered her hand with his. "Which is why you haven't asked me out? I hope I'm not being arrogant but I got the vibe that you thought I was attractive."

"The word vibe sounds so natural on your lips," Amy said. "But um. Yes. Yes, I think you're attractive. But I feel like you'd be bad at being casual. With me. Maybe you'd be great at it with someone else."

"No problem," Jonah said. "We could try." 

Amy laughed. "No."

After that, Amy told Jonah all about her dates. With men and women, though, like Amy said, it was mostly men. She went out twice a week, or less. She didn't always have sex with them. 

One night, Jonah took a woman he'd met online to a coffee shop slash bar, it was great for a first date. He was going towards the bathroom when he saw Amy. She looked really different somehow without her vest, outside the store. She looked beautiful and then he saw her date, a really pretty Asian girl, and then they were kissing. Jonah felt like an asshole watching and worse when he was so totally turned on. It was so programmed by society. And really hot. 

He went back to his date and then let her go home with just a kiss. It would be awful to make a move on someone when he was really just thinking about Amy making out with some gorgeous girl. 

He did ask her the next time he saw her. "I saw you, with, um, she was really pretty." He said it very quietly, he didn't want to out her, ever. 

"Yeah," Amy said, smiling. Then she frowned. She said, "Then I mentioned I dated men and she was awful."

"Biphobia is real," Jonah said. 

She said, just as quietly, "Are you really 70-30, like you said? I feel like you've mostly been dating women."

"It's a lifetime average," Jonah said. "There were a lot of guys in college. And right after college."

"Huh," Amy said. "But then you were like girls! Girls! Girls!"

"No, women, women, women. Girls are too young for me," Jonah said. "But it was more, like, here's the people I meet and am attracted to."

Amy nodded. "I was attracted to Trish last night and then she turned out to be an asshole."

Jonah nodded. "She was pretty hot."

"Hot assholes. I don't want to date them," Amy said. 

It was weird hearing about Amy's exploits. He asked about her other things in her life, too. She hated living with her parents even though Emma didn't mind. Amy hadn't signed up for more college classes, which Jonah kept telling her she should. 

Amy snapped at him some days and was also sickly sweet other days. Then she'd apologize. "This, all of this, is a mindfuck. My parents think the divorce was wrong, so I feel like I can't be unhappy in front of them. I keep trying to make sure Emma knows she's loved but she's a total brat. Work is work. And sometimes you just annoy me." 

"Sometimes you annoy me," Jonah said. "Not actually a lot, but you do."

"Divorce is traumatic," Amy said. "I'm getting a tattoo Wednesday, wanna come with me?"

"You are?"

Amy nodded and smiled. "You could get one, too."

"How do you know I don't already have one?"

"Because I've met you," Amy said. 

"What are you getting?"

"Kyle the cannibal eating my will to live," Amy said. "You'll see."

"That's what I was gonna get," Jonah said. 

"You should get an eagle tearing apart an otter," Garrett said. Because all work conversations were, really, open to anyone. 

"I don't know, is it really me?" Jonah looked seriously at Garrett. 

"Not in the least. That's why you should get it. To live up to it," Garrett said. 

Dina said, "If you get a tattoo with words or some dumb crap like that, make sure the words aren't too small because overtime they all blend together into much. My father had a tattoo on his arm that was supposed to say checkmate and ten years later it was just a blend of mush like a fence."

"That's a cautionary tale," Jonah said. 

Amy nodded. "That's good to know."

Jonah went with her to the tattoo parlor though he wasn't convinced about getting one himself. As soon as they were back with the tattoo fellow, Amy took off her shirt. Then she unhooked her bra. Jonah blinked a lot, and missed the conversation between the guy and Amy. By the time he came back into his head, Amy was on her side and the guy was sitting next to her with his gun already buzzing.

"Hey," Jonah said. 

"This is mean of me," Amy said. "See, it's right under the boob, so wearing a bra while getting it would be pointless, and I'm already getting a tattoo so it's too late to care about being topless."

"You invited me," Jonah said. He sat down and tried to angle himself sort of away from her. 

"I was hoping you'd get one, too," she said and winced. 

"So you're getting words?" 

"Honduran made, Missouri born," Amy said. She winced again. "You really should get one. Get it on your butt and then when I'm done, I can come see you and we'll be even."

"No," he said. He was really trying not to look at Amy's fantastic breasts so he was staring at the walls and other tattoos. He didn't really see anything he wanted to put on his body permanently. 

"I'm sorry, this is like one of those things angry guys complain about when they go to the friend zone, or something. I didn't mean it like that. I was sure you would decide to get a tattoo," Amy said.

"There's no such thing as the friend zone," Jonah said. "I don't think anyone owes me sex, no matter how nice I am to them."

She was still wincing. "Well, you can get one now! Maybe something Jewish?"

The tattoo guy said, "Technically tattooing is forbidden for Jews. Depending on your interpretation."

"Yeah," Jonah said. "But it's not a big thing in my family, both my brothers have tattoos. And my PopPop."

"You should fit in," Amy said. "Conform. Be like your brothers. What's, like, your favorite book?"

"Oh, that's a toughie, I don't know," he said. He took out his phone so he wasn't looking at Amy's breasts which were fantastic and amazing. 

"Favorite film," Amy said.

"That's another toughie," Jonah said. 

"I know," Amy said. "You should get a whale."

"Yeah, whale associations are my favorite thing about my name," Jonah said. He did smile a little. "I always liked the end of that one when Jonah's tired out and he sits under a gourd and then gets really mad when God lets the gourd die."

"You could get a gourd," Amy said. "I think you're overthinking this."

"I never do that," Jonah said. But then he did think of something. 

Getting a tattoo was way more painful than Amy made it look. The tattoo artist said, "She had a baby?"

Jonah nodded. The tattoo artist said, "Even if she hadn't, women have much higher pain tolerance than men." The buzzing of the gun felt like it was going right into Jonah's molars. "Like, I said, we're still charging you $100 even for this design."

Amy came over. He could tell she wasn't wearing a bra now, though she had her shirt back on. She said, "The St. Louis skyline."

"I live here now," Jonah said. "I'm all in."

Amy eyed his pants. She even smirked a little. "You like pain, huh."

He rolled his eyes. "I spent ten minutes looking at your breasts, too. They're really great, you're beautiful."

"Guys get boners getting tattoos all the time," said the tattoo artist. 

When they were both done and had paid, Jonah making sure to tip generously, Amy suggested he crash at her place. In her car, he tried to arrange himself with the least hip pain but it seemed impossible. He said, "Please tell me your couch is comfortable."

"God, Jonah, I invited you back to my house and showed you my breasts. You're going to sleep in the bed with me and before that we're going to have sex," she said. 

"But casual?" 

"You said we should try," Amy said. 

"Right," Jonah said. "Absolutely. But, also, to be clear, if you ever want something not casual, I'd be happy to. To fulfill that want."

"I know," Amy said. 

They still ate dinner and drank some beer and then got in bed. They both had similar weird bandages, Jonah noted. Then he was just enjoying how pretty Amy was. She smiled at him and said, "Stop staring, let's get to it."

"Don't rush me," Jonah said. 

He loved kissing her, his hands finally on her breasts. She reached down for his dick and everything was just very intense. He loved fucking her and how she closed her eyes and scrunched up her face whens she came. She made tiny, gasping noises that he thought were better than any music he'd ever heard. It was Amy. 

He would suck at being casual with Amy. But at least he got to make love to her. He woke up in the morning as Amy was buzzing around the room. "I have work in an hour," Amy said. "You don't but you should still leave when I do. Which is in a half hour."

"Got it," Jonah said. "Got it. Does your tattoo hurt? Mine is killing me."

"Same," Amy said. "I woke up late, you have to go when I go. I'm sorry, I have to pick up Emma after school. So you have to leave and make sure there's no sign of you here. It's not personal."

"It's just having sex and not letting Emma know," Jonah said. "Got it." He went into the bathroom and got dressed. He'd do the tattoo maintenance when he got home. Then he cleaned the toilet and the sink. 

He stepped out and looked at the bed. "Do you want me to change the sheets?"

Amy grinned at him. She walked over and kissed his jaw. "You're cute. That part I can do."

"Do we have time to talk about this, I mean, us, and the great sex, I hope you thought it was great sex, I definitely did," Jonah said.

"I meant to wake up in time to have that talk," Amy said.

Jonah laughed. "I get it."

"I mean it, I meant to get up earlier. I was gonna think and be ready to talk," Amy said. "I'm sorry."

He didn't get his hopes up. He went home and did his tattoo maintenance. Then he took a picture for his instagram. It meant he had to pull down his jeans very low. His mother commented that he shouldn't be posing like that on Instagram. Five minutes after he posted. Jonah laughed. 

He was working the afternoon/evening shift so and Amy had Emma so he wasn't nervous that Amy hadn't called. Not really particularly nervous. He was out in the parking lot heading to his car when she finally called him. "Hey," he said. "Hey."

"Emma's asleep, finally," Amy said. "I sounds like she's a baby, but, you know, I hate her hearing me being an idiot. So any dating activity."

"I get it," Jonah said. "I get it, you want to keep it casual, so --"

"No, that wasn't what I was going to say, I was -- do you not want to date? I was gonna say I wanted to date, you and me," Amy said. "Was the sex bad?"

"The sex was great, I was just trying to make it easier for you to dump me, you know, pretend it didn't hurt me. I really really want to date you," Jonah said. He nearly dropped his phone. "The sex was super great."

"Oh, oh, good. I'd like to date you. You know, actual dates. Not casual," Amy said. 

"Awesome, awesome, I would love to do that," Jonah said. "I would love that."

"Definitely," Amy said. "I would say come over, but Emma."

"I can wait," Jonah said. "For our next date."

"Nice rhyming," Amy said. "Okay, good, good. I just hope our next conversation is less awkward."

"I think that's very unlikely," Jonah said. "Call me tomorrow? Or I'll see you at work."

"You'll see me at work, try to be discreet," Amy said.


End file.
